Under siege, Sonia wants party polls postponed

But the veteran leader from Rajasthan, who was among those overlooked in the recent Rajya Sabha nominations, apparently indicated that it would not be justified to postpone the elections for the second time in a row, that too at the wish of some MPs. He is believed to have taken the view that such a move would send the wrong signals to the party rank and file and make it appear as if the party high command was shying away from facing theelections.

According to party insiders, Sonia subsequently sent senior leaders Madhavrao Scindia and Pranab Mukherjee to talk to Mirdha and further impress upon him the wishes of the MPs, in their capacity as deputy leader of the Lok Sabha and Chief Whip of the Rajya Sabha, respectively. Mirdha, however, is believed to have stuck to his earlier stand and expressed his reservations to be party to a further postponement.

The elections were initially scheduled for August, 1999 but had to be postponed due to the Lok Sabha elections. And Mirdha, who took over a CEA chairman about a year back, is reported to have indicated that while that postponement was inevitable, this time round the reasons weren’t valid enough.

A final decision on whether to postpone the elections or not is to be taken shortly.

When contacted by The Indian Express, Mirdha declined to comment on the ongoing tussle but said he felt no real need for a postponement since the party membership drive was proceeding very well. “The CEA is fully geared to hold the elections as per the existing schedule,” he said.

The elections are crucial for Sonia and her team since they will decide the composition of party’s organisational structure right down from the district and PCC level to that of the AICC. The elections will also have a direct bearing on the set up of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party’s highest decision-making body. It is the members elected to the AICC who elect the Congress president as well members to the CWC.

In other words, the new power equations within the party will hinge on the outcome of the organisational elections.

As per the existing schedule, the election process is to commence from the village and block level in the third week of April and continue to the district, PCC and AICC levels. Elections to the post of party president, if required, are to be held on June 30.

As the party’s constitution, organisational elections are to be held every two years. They were last held in 1997, during the tenure of Sitaram Kesri as the party’s president.